A WALK TO REMEMBER – Rev. Dr. Libby Gibson leads the procession from the fire station to St. Mary’s Church.

Firefighters, church unite for memorial

It’s been 11 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, and the horrific memories of that day still bring raw emotions to the surface, That was evident at the fourth annual St. Mary’s Church’s 9-11 Remembrance Service held jointly Tuesday with the Barnstable Fire Department.

At 4 p.m. in front of the fire station, Chief Frank Pulsifer welcomed a solemn crowd of about 40 who gathered there to hear a few speakers before walking in procession to the Episcopal church a half-mile to the west. Rev. Dr. Libby Gibson, newly called minister at St. Mary’s, delivered an opening prayer at the fire station and turned the microphone over to featured speaker Charles Hopkins III, former assistant secretary for Operations, Security and Preparedness for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Hopkins, who also served in several White House staff positions and with the Department of Homeland Security, read the poem “Meet Me in the Stairwell.” Several times, Hopkins struggled to recite the words of the inspirational poem describing God’s helping hand for those who perished at the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the crash landing site of United Air Lines Flight 93.

Following Hopkins, Pulsifer recited The Firefighter’s Prayer, which at times he also had difficulty getting out.

With a Barnstable Police color guard and accompanied by the sorrowful wail of bagpipes, the crowd walked slowly walked down sun-dappled Route 6A to St. Mary’s for the formal service. There, a still larger crowd packed the pews to remember those who died on that fateful day in 2001.